'Pieces of history' still soar at Opa-locka airport

Opa-locka Executive Airport is home to about a dozen large propeller planes, such as Douglas DC-3s and Convair 340s — planes that originally flew for the airlines or the military in the 1940s and 1950s.

Although aviation enthusiasts consider them classics, suitable for museums, these "freight dogs" and "sky trucks" still work for a living, flying cargo or spraying dispersants over oil spills.

"Because it's a piece of history, it's slow and noisy," said Keith Kearns, a pilot for Florida Air Cargo, referring to the 1940 DC-3 he flies almost daily to the islands. "It's like flying a truck with no power steering."

Opa-locka Executive is home to a handful of companies that operate the large propeller aircraft — planes rarely seen at other South Florida airports. Also scattered across Opa-locka's ramps are numerous retired jetliners, such as Boeing 727s and DC-10s, waiting to be scrapped.

Nelson Mejias, the airport manager, said the old birds fit right in because the airport "has always been historical in nature."

Founded by aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss in 1927, Opa-locka was home to the Miami Naval Air Station during World War II. In the early 1960s, it played a role in the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis. In 1937, Amelia Earhart started her round-the-world journey from Miami Municipal Airport, at the time part of a sprawling Opa-locka aviation complex.

Sitting on the Florida Air Transport ramp are a DC-4, a DC-6 and a Convair 340, workhorses during the 1950s and 1960s for the airlines and various military branches. Now they haul freight, or, in the case of the DC-6, respond to oil spills. That plane is equipped with 3,320 gallons of oil dispersants.

Carlos Gomez, president of Florida Air Transport, said he cherishes the planes' historic pasts, which is why he had the DC-6 painted in the colors of 1960's Pan American World Airways.

"To me, they're just classic," he said. "I love the history."

Gomez was part of a group of aviation businessmen who restored an Eastern Airlines DC-7B to its original splendor and donated it to the non-profit Historical Flight Foundation. Although that plane is also based at Opa-locka, it's currently parked at an aviation museum in Charlotte, N.C.

The planes still are safe because they must be frequently inspected and carefully maintained, said Julio Astrillo, who co-owns Atlantic Air Cargo.

His firm spent $300,000 to overhaul a DC-3 that originally flew for the military and now flies furniture, food and other goods around the Caribbean. It's also made appearances in movies and television shows, such as "Burn Notice."

"These are planes that were built in the 1940s," said Julio Astrillo. "They'll be flying for many, many years to come."